Vivid hands top job to ex-Tomy chief

Vivid Imaginations, Britain's biggest toy-maker, has hired former Tomy marketer Emma Sherski as marketing director. The appointment comes as the company tries to erode the gap on multinationals Hasbro and Mattel with a series of licensed character launches.

Sherski will be responsible for all marketing and global licensing work and will oversee the launch of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Incredible Hulk ranges in July.

She joins from TV production company Platinum Films, where she was marketing director for two-and-a-half years. Prior to that, she was a long-time marketer at Tomy Toys as business head for pre-school and licensing.

Vivid has earmarked a 15% hike in its marketing budget, as it expects 2003 sales to increase 15% in a relatively flat global toy market.

Sherski, who starts the role next week, will head a team of ten marketers and report to managing director Paul Weston. Vivid's previous marketing director, Andy Cooper, left more than a year ago.

In the interim, marketing managers Chris Jones and Barlie Kidwell have shared responsibilities, charged with distributor products and in-house products respectively.

As well as Ninja Turtles and Hulk, Vivid has acquired licenses for retro characters such as Spider-Man and the Care Bears, fuelling the trend for reviving toys popular with previous generations.

The Ninja Turtles and Hulk action figures and playsets will benefit from heavyweight media exposure through animated series for both - running from next month on GMTV - and the forthcoming Hulk Hollywood film release.

The company launched a range of toys based on the X Men 2 film last month.

It will launch and market a McDonald's McFlurry Maker next month based on the fast-food giant's desert.

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